10Kmarathonswim

Personal records this week

February is apparently always a strange month for me. I checked old Flog entries for Feb, and going back to 2008, I've always dropped mileage this month when compared to January and every other month. This February, only 18.59 miles. January 2012? 27.8 miles.

But, this month has been one of firsts. As my dear reader(s) know, I've been following Mallory Mead's workouts in the USMS forums. She is brutal. I need tough love. I don't know if MM loves me, but I love her (workouts).

Yesterday, I did the Friday workout from last week. (I always am a day behind, but that isn't my fault. I am currently 9 hours ahead of eastern time, and I think MM is in CA, so that's another three hours ahead. When I go swim on Mondays around 11:30 am, it is 11:30 pm in CA, so her workouts for the new week aren't posted yet, so I do Friday's workout. Then on Tuesdays, I start the new week.)  Anyway, the main set in last Friday's workout was:

1x800 Pull @ BPI+5 Base
7x100 Swim @ BPI
3x200 50 Drill/50 Swim @ :20 RI
1x500 Pull @ BPI+5 Base
4x100 Swim @ BPI
2x150 50 Drill/100 Moderate @ :20 RI
4x50 Tarzan/Dolphin Kick on Back @ :20 RI
1x100 @ 100% Effort

That's pretty brutal all told. Even better: the last 100 of the 4 x 100 I did in 1:19. That's yards people! And that's a PR. (Granted, in my pool, that's 3 laps totalling 100.67 yards, so a couple extra push-offs.) Even better: the last set at max effort I swam in 1:18!

But then today, doing Monday's main set (even though it is Tuesday...see above parenthetical remark if you've skipped to here):

3x100 100% Effort @ BPI+45
3x300 Descend 1-3 @ BPI+10
6x50 25 SPRINT 25 Easy @ :20 RI

I did the 3 x 100 in 1:16, 1:18 and 1:20!  W00t! 

So thanks Mallory for the workouts, another bennie of being a USMS member.

Why I hate wetsuits

Recently on the USMS forums, an OW newbie asked about preparing for his first OW event. Good on him! The more people that get into OW swimming, the better as far as I'm concerned. That'll mean more competitions for me.

One of his questions dealt with purchasing a wetsuit. I advised he not even wear one unless it was mandatory. (It was too late to advise him to not sign up for a wetsuit-mandatory swim as he'd already paid his entry fee.) I realized that on the day I responded to him, it was exactly five months since my 10K in the UK. Dear reader(s) of the blog know that not only was that my first 10K, but it was a mandatory wetsuit swim. Unfortunately.

Here is pictorial (pectorial? ha!) proof for why wetsuits suck. First, my wounds after swimming in the Dart river for just under three hours.

And the left side, right after the swim:

Yuck. Actual pain was minimized by my sheer excitement for having completed a marathon swim. And the beers I had at the local pub. Here's a picture of my barmaid. (For some damn reason she turned around right when I was taking her picture.)

Seriously, though, this pub had great food and, of course, beer. Especially the ever wonderful Guinness, the best post-race nutrition.

OK, back to the point of the post. Here are pictures of my scars today, a bit over five months after this marathon.

I know, barely visible. But try to look past my huge pecs. You can see the remnants of the wetsuit scraping on my chest. I know it's barely there, but point is, it is still there, more than 150 days after the race.  And I haven't put that wetsuit on since!

From here on out, I will only swim naked.